The Dwarf of Mountain Lake
by Abyss the Hedgehog
Summary: Brace yourself for Ikeyama Tsuyoshi's in town and he's gonna wreck it down. Okay, maybe not really. Still, can a short-tempered deliquent-in-making find some peace, friendship or... love here in Sakakino Gakuen? Find out as you embrace this epic story of The Dwarf of Mountain Lake. Rated T for swearing and violence, might change into M later on.
1. Friendmaking for Dummies

**Hey guys. Long time no see, eh?**

**All I can do is to apologize for leaving my account and all my stories like that. I just don't think they were up to the task, including the latest KS one. They shall remain never finished, mostly as a reminder of an old shame.**

**My mind switched back to School Days some time ago. Thought I might do a fic that doesn't necessarily include self-inserts, stupid-ass psycho-inter-dimension stuff, the likes. A fic which goes by relatively realistic standards and, uh, maybe it can be a bit more light-hearted compared to other ones. **

**Enter Ikeyama Tsuyoshi or the titular Dwarf of Mountain Lake. Like all other fics, this one will also be done on a whim and might contain inconsistencies, but I'll try to keep it as clean and correctly English as possible. **

**Let us go back to Sakakino Gakuen. Enjoy ourselves before the carnage starts... Contains lots of swearing and possibly other M-rated things.**

* * *

Man, this sucks balls.

To move like that for an umpteenth time seems like lots of bullshit. What was wrong with the previous school? Just because I laid down that one creep wasn't a reason to pack things and leave. It's not like I did a bad thing. Hell, I went easy on the fucking pervert, he was openly groping that junior high schoolgirl.

Then again, he _was_ a teacher. Kinda got me a lot of ire from principal. Got that askew, pisssed-off look anytime I was around.

Anyway, mostly because of this my parents are moving to another town. According to Dad it's gonna be easier to find a less sucky job to where we're going: Sakakino City. It's some rural town a few hours by train from Kyoto. Supposedly a cool place to live and it helps that Pops has an old friend of his there, some well-off businessman that might be able to help him out.

Wait. I didn't even introduce myself. Name's Ikeyama Tsuyoshi, aged sixteen. Standing at five feet and two inches which is totally one hundred fifty _eight_ centimeters. Not seven. _Eight_. There's a reason I was called "Dwarf of the Mountain Lake" back in the previous school. Don't think this is a problem to me though. If necessary, I will smack you around like a ragdoll.

I, uh, I admit I've got some issues regarding this, but as long as you don't mention it, I'm an okay guy to be around. Smacking around bad guys and not afraid of anything. Been doing that since I was able to. Bully-hunting, that is. You could say, I'm a bully to these bullies.

The reasoning behind this is rather simple. Everywhere, no matter if it's the center of Tokyo, the most rural village of them all or something in between: there's always an asshole that gets off on ruining people's lives and moods for his own amusement. The guy that will kick puppies and instigate pointless evil just to see you cringe or cry. Well, I say "fuck that" and lay him out with a well-placed straight. Been training box since I was thirteen, helped me get over some anger management issues as well as aid my cause of smacking such scumbags around. Things get complicated when said bully is a girl. You know the kind, the one that tugs on your hair just because she's got dandruff and is simply jealous. You're familiar with all these tough cookie movie types that fuck bad guys around and refuse to lay a finger on an enemy chick? I ain't one of these. But since it often looks like I'm the one doing the assaulting, it most often than not gets me in trouble. Since my first flop at freshman year in junior high where I defended my classmate from a senior bitch by punching the stars out of her, I've started to take a more diplomatic approach to these things. Ain't easy, especially when your temper is still kinda thin, but so far I've been able to handle at least a part of such conflicts by words, mostly simple threats. Reputation helps making them more meaningful.

One thing I won't argue or discuss about however is sexual abuse. No, fuck no. I don't care who the offender is, I'm laying him down. It's not always a good thing for my own interest – as the earlier example with said teacher demonstrated – but fuck if it's not a right one.

But I'm getting off the track. Back to the main story.

As I mentioned, we're now en route to Sakakino. There's a high school there that I'll enlist to, simply called Sakakino Gakuen. Not a particularly good one, but I ain't a particularly good student either. To be fair, I kinda suck. They keep telling me that I've got potential, but I dunno if something will ever come out of it.

We'll be arriving a few days before the school year starts so there's that as well. Will get me some time to get knowledgeable about my surroundings. Gonna check out if they have any box gyms there, would be bad to let my skill degrade without training. I mean, pretty damn sure that that school also has its own bullies.

My older sister, Sayuri, had arrived there a couple days earlier to help us establish the house we'll be put in. Ain't gonna be fancy, but it should do for these couple of years. I plan to not change schools this time. Hopefully, no sexual offender will creep around.

As for Sayuri herself, she's the kind of gal that you'd love to have as a business partner. No-nonsense, professional, successful – she's a vice-chairman in a small company producing electronics and so far both the company and she has been making some aggressive progress to win over the competition – kinda cold even. I know she cares for us all, but she could put some more passion into it. We were never getting along too well, but this might be the fact that our personalities are on opposite sides of the spectrum. She's a cold flood, I'm a blazing flame.

In any case, since Sayuri's the person in this family that has the most business sense she'll be making sure that the house ain't a pig in a poke, that everything works and is just as the offer said and all that jazz. Dad's kind of a dreamer and Mum... let's say she's got an attention span of a ten-year-old. Gets too easily excited. Kinda funny how despite my violent outbursts I'm still the second most rational person in our family. That doesn't mean I don't love them. I do, to pieces. They might be kinda scatterbrained, but hell, they're my parents. They gave birth to me, they tended to me, they gave me a chance to live at all.

In any case, we still have an hour or so to arrive there. Might as well take a nap.

* * *

I won't describe how we got all of our stuff placed in right places. What's most important is that everything about the house was as described and I think Sayuri actually went a step further and pushed the owner into lowering the rent. Dunno how she did that, but my sister would likely be able to negotiate with devil and still come out on top.

I decided to take a stroll around the town, see what it has in store. Surprisingly, it's not as rural as Pops made it out to be: they've got lots of them skyscrapers in the city centre, there's also a lot of train stations. I even took a ride before getting out on some random station called Harahirama. After some pointless strolling here and there around the train station itself I decided to venture deeper into the outskirts of Sakakino. Sun's slowly setting, but that ain't a problem.

Seems like this might be some exclusive part of town: houses here look fancier than those in our district. Everything seems kinda rich for a rural town. Rural my ass. I honestly don't know how Pops – as lost in thought as he can be – found this place rural.

Whether it's rural or not, some things never change. Some things are always the same. Like bullies. These are always the same.

Two of them, both pretty damn tall. Not necessarily buffed, but they look like they could pull a mean punch or two. Currently, busy disturbing a girl. She seems to be of similar age to me, likely attends Sakakino Gakuen herself. She's clearly uncomfortable and wants to leave, but the two circle her around all the time like wolves about to eat a lamb. Fucking disgusting is a good way of putting this.

"...come on, sunshine, you won't regret it." As I approach the commotion I can hear one of them talking to her. "We're gonna be your personal kings of the world."

"...I, I r-really need to go..." She responds, but the meekness of her answer falls on deaf ears.

"And leave us here? We can show you a good time, sweet stuff." The other says, grinning in a way that cannot be described in any other way than perverted.

That about does it.

"Oi, dirtbags!" I address them loudly, glaring. Their sugar-laced smiles directed towards the girl vanish instantly as they turn to look at me.

"You have some sort of problem, kid? We're busy." The first one snarls at me in response. They think I'm a kid. Good. Makes things easier.

"How about no? You leave that girl alone or we're gonna have words." The other just lets out a thunderous laugh before exchanging amused stares with his cohort and approaching me.

"You're amusing, short stuff, so we're gonna let this slip. Go and scurry to mommy." He says, grinning mockingly. Good thing that you're showing me all these teeth, fucker.

They make for a nice target.

Not thinking much at this point I throw a left straight right at the shining keyboard in front of me. The punch connects with a satisfying clank as the man curses and reels back, missing a foretooth and two fangs.

"Son of a bitch!" He cries out, holding his mouth in pain. The other sexual offender is too dumbfounded to act. Good. Not wasting time I move to him and deliver one blow to the liver. He bends over, gasping for air. Can't let you do that. I throw in an upper for a good measure, knocking him down on his sorry ass. In the meantime I hear the other guy slowly channeling his rage through pain. He's going to try and grab me soon. I turn to face him and true to my expectations he's charging at me like a bull. I swiftly sidestep in response and knock him down with a well-done leg sweep. Isn't something I learned at boxing classes, but it helps now and then. He hits the pavement with a satisfying thud. I glance at the first one, but it seems he's out of commission already. My eyes dart for a brief while to the girl. She's clearly terrified, but hasn't ran away, instead choosing to hug the wall with eyes as big as saucers.

The other guy tries to grab me by the leg and pull me down, but that ain't gonna work. Hopping away I kick him right in the face, this time scoring another fang and a broken nose. All of his anger suddenly puffed out, replaced by a pained scream that degraded to a pathetic sobbing shortly after. He's conscious, but he's given up.

"Listen to me well, shit. If I find you harassing this girl or any other girl in whole damn Sakakino, I'll make sure to send you both in a crash-course to nearest hospital." I growl, staring him down. He doesn't respond, instead choosing to whimper and mumble curses as he holds his bloodied nose. With a sigh I turn away to look at the girl. She's terrified. "You okay?" I ask her. She doesn't respond immediately, instead staring at me as if I was some kind of ancient monster that came to terrorize Japan for God knows which time. She's afraid of me, I get that. It happens a lot in my, uh, line of work.

Actually, it's more of a hobby.

"...I-I'm fine." She finally responds, nodding nervously. "Thank, thank you."

"The only right thing to do." I shake my head. "Wouldn't be okay to just leave you with these two."

"They... they actually were harassing me... for some time."

"Another reason to smack them around." I let out a chuckle. "Do you mind if I walk you home? Dunno how many such creeps might be lurking around." There's a brief moment of uncertainty in her nervous smile, but it seems that my little perfomance had win me enough trust as she nods in response.

* * *

Katsura Kotonoha, that's the girl's name. We've talked a bit during our walk and she gradually opened up a little bit. I was glad to see her if not relaxed than at least not nervous any longer.

As she explained she was going to Sakakino Gakuen this year as a freshman, just like me. She was on her way back home from school, likely to give it a look, when these creeps appeared. Thankfully they didn't know where she lived as they would always leave if someone adult would approach them. Since tonight there was no such man or woman they got bolder. Thankfully, I was around to smack them around.

If there was any reason why she was harassed by these two it was definitely her figure. Katsura-san, put simply, is drop dead gorgeous. There's some kind of quality about her that makes a man – and probably many a woman – at least curious. Shameful to admit, but I think my heart skipped a beat when I was able to see her in more detail under one lamppost. It wasn't just about huge breasts, she had everything: long flowing hair, face with hardly any imperfection, a slim yet not overly thin figure and damn long legs. No wonder these two were so interested in her though that gave them no reason to molest her like that. Well, I can only hope they've learned their lesson though it will be satisfying to smack them around once more.

We chatted for a bit about general stuff. From what I've gathered so far she has a younger sister named Kokoro, absolutely sucks at cooking, likes horror movies – curiously enough – and practices iaido. She's also filthy rich if the size of the mansion she lives in – because there's no way in hell I'm calling that a house – is anything to go by.

"Well then, guess I'll see you around in school." I say, giving a slight smile. Katsura-san smiles as well.

"It would be nice." She responds, nodding. "See you soon, Ikeyama-san." With that we part ways, both – I believe – rather content.

I'm glad I've got to meet someone before going to Sakakino Gakuen. Kinda regretting that I didn't ask her for her phone number, but I think she's the kind of girl who would just blush furiously at the proposition. Nah. We'll get to be schoolmates soon, so maybe then, once we establish a friendship or at least some good relations.

Apologizing to Mum that I'm still not at home I make my way there as quickly as possible. I think that's enough of attractions for an introductory day.

* * *

And today's the day. I shall officially become a student of Sakakino Gakuen.

Can't say I'm excited, but it's nice to start. Once we're past a boring introductory ceremony hosted by what is likely the most boring principal in the world we all head our ways, looking for our classes. Apparently mine will be class 1-4. Keeping my jacket put on my shoulders like a cape and loosening the necktie a bit I head there though I end up having to ask a sempai or two where exactly the class in question is.

Arriving there I notice there's still not a lot of people inside: just three girls sitting in on the end of the class, chatting rather enthusiastically about something. Other than them there's some totally generic dude sitting in the middle and browsing through his phone and... wait a second.

"Katsura-san?" Before I can bite my tongue words come out. The long-haired beauty turns to see me, clearly as surprised as I am.

"Ikeyama-san?" She responds with a question before closing her book. "I didn't expect..."

"...to see you here? Didn't either." Making my way to the end of the class where she's situated I can't not notice that the three girls from the other side took a brief glance at Katsura-san and then switched back to me, likely evaluating whether the two of us have some sort of close relationship already. They do seem like gossip girls from the looks of it. Not to mention, one of them has a really idiotic hairdo, but that's an another matter. "Guess we're gonna be classmates. Hope you don't mind if I sit next to you?" Again, she seems hesitant. I guess I can't blame her, it may look like I'm getting personal quickly.

"If you could take... the one lower instead..." She responds meekly.

"No problem, can do that as well." She must really shy away from anything even resembling physical contact. I've noticed yesterday something unusual about these two sexual offenders that were disturbing Katsura-san. Neither of them even attempted to touch her. They were close, yeah, and they were circling her around, but neither tried to, I dunno, squeeze her arm, brush her hair, nothing. I suppose they would overcome this psychical barrier sooner or later though it does make me wonder. Is she known around? Perhaps her parents are some big cheeses here in Sakakino? Hell, with a mansion like that it wouldn't be all that surprising.

After I take my seat just under the one of Katsura-san's there's a long period of awkward silence between us. She's obviously embarrassed for some reason. Was it something I said? Probably my question. I've never been too subtle, I guess. Gonna work on that.

After a while we manage to break this awkwardness though and make some small chat. Apparently she will be appointing for the position of class rep. Dunno if she's going to fit in there with her personality, but I guess it's not my business. The class slowly fills with people, guys and gals. Finally after the last student takes his place it comes a turn for our homeroom teacher – an elderly woman in a rather gaudish pink attire – to enter. So it begins, my first year at Sakakino Gakuen.

I can only hope it's gonna be good...

* * *

**There you have it. Hope that jackass Ikiyama will be to your liking. :) **


	2. Bully Hunter in Action

**Well then, let us not waste time and continue with a next chapter.**

* * *

Lessons keep going on and on and on and on. And then some more on.

I found myself just kinda lying lifelessly on my desk after a second hour. I really do suck at this. Yeah, I think I've got some notes about how electricity works, but they're likely anything but useful. The girl sitting next to me, a ponytailed brunette, doesn't appear to be interested in this ungodly boring lecture either. Unlike me, she hardly even has any notes, instead choosing to roll her pen across the desk, left and right. Left and right. This kind of pendulum can be strangely captivating.

One row higher, Katsura-san was meanwhile hell of an attentive student if her quick, efficient motions while writing were anything to go by. Oh how I wish I could do half as well in such situation. Gonna have to ask her if she's willing to share notes once lessons are over.

After a long period of droning about stuff that might as well be coded in Latin the schoolbell finally rangs. Oh sweet sweet freedom! About time, too: I was getting hungry as hell. Didn't get a lunchbox with me, so I had to make a beeline to cafeteria. My eyes briefly darted to Katsura-san. Seems she was on her way somewhere as well. A brief thought crossed my mind to join her in wherever she was heading to, but I quickly scrubbed it out. No reason to give the trio of gossip girls more ammo that fast. Hell, I need to get to know people around better. Wouldn't be good if she was my only contact around.

My desk neighbor decided to take the break as a nap time. Guess it works as well. Time to head out.

* * *

The sea of uniforms, both male and female, is positively staggering. They're so official either, black and white with an extra red ribbon for girls. I've noticed that the female version includes thigh-high socks for some reason since every single female I've seen had them. Huh. Will be the first time I've seen something like that.

All in all, the school itself seems rather calm despite tons of students moving here and there. Nothing too fancy about it. Makes me wonder if they have any interesting clubs here. Something like football or anything of the sort. Baseball, maybe? Always wanted to try it out since it's pretty much our national sport.

Lots of thoughts, quite unpleasantly interrupted when I've found myself bumping into someone. With a rather loud thud both myself and the other guy took a step back, blinking in surprise. It quickly degraded into irritation however. I mean, what the hell is that guy doing, walking like that?! Is he blind or something?!

"Oi, how about you watch where you're going." I snarl at him, staring him down. He's taller than me and packs some impressive musculature. Unlike those two shits from a couple of days earlier this one seriously looked intimidating. Yeah, if they weren't such pussies, they would likely put up a fight, but this guy... this guy looked like a text-book deliquent.

Not that it matters. Tough or not, he'd do well to keep his goddamn eyes on the track.

"Pot to kettle." He responds with a murmuring baritone, glaring me down. "Though I would likely not notice you anyway." Is he making fun of me? I can feel the rage boiling inside already. He either gets out of my way or I'm going to lay down another person.

"Oh yeah? Steroids tasting good, big lug?" I bark an insult back at him. This seems to prick him well as his expression turns right around from irritated to downright hostile. Good going, Ikeyama.

"I suggest you move before I make you." He growls. This is starting to resemble a showdown between a bear and a wolf. Hell if I'm backing down though.

"Make me." I offer a mocking smirk. True to my expectations he throws a punch in response, right at my nose. It hits against my raised arms, blocking it. Still, I underestimated him. For such hulking appearance he's pretty damn fast. Hopping away I casually throw away my jacket. It would only get in the way. The big guy rather hands it to the girl next to him, brown-haired with a single strand of hair sticking around. She seems flustered and confused. They're classmates? Couple? Dunno, not important right now. This lug's screwed ten times over.

"Alright kiddo. You've just fucked yourself." He drones surprisingly dully before beginning to approach me calmly, fists slowly raising. A quick glance around reveals that our little scrap is already beginning to gather curious eyes here. Well, truth be told, it's day one of school, so nobody would expect conflicts so soon, especially so explosive and physical.

Keeping my fists and arms protecting my face with only eyes seen, peek-a-boo style, I see him slowly approaching. He's careful. Guess he ain't as dumb as he looks like. My boxing stance probably threw him off guard, he likely was expecting some street-fighting brawler. People around are already whispering among each other, but that's not important. Doesn't matter if I win this or not either. What matters is the point. I ain't backing down just because some fucking roided-up thug is in my way. If he's the bully, even better: that will teach him to not mess with me or anyone around me. If he's not, he'll think twice before trying to become one.

The tension grows with each second as he gradually closes to me, likely looking for a good opportunity to land a good hit. Tempting to try and nail him with a straight, but it's too much of a risk: he's got way longer arms and exposing my face at his optimal punching range would be just asking for a beatdown. Gonna wait until he's close enough, then I'll grind his liver into fine paste with a few well-placed hits.

I got so worked up – and kinda excited too - about this that I forgot about one crucial detail however. The big guy quickly exploited it by sweeping me off my feet with a well-placed kick.

This ain't a boxing match.

Not wasting time he quickly follows with a quick straight to my now fully exposed face. Not wanting to get an immediate dent in about all of my appearance I roll out of the way, quickly getting back on my feet. My opponent slowly turns around to face me. That son of a bitch is smirking! That does it! I close in with a quick blow to the body. He blocks it not without some difficulty which makes his irritating face take a more serious approach yet again. I quickly follow with another body blow, this time connecting right in his right side. He's not close to be gasping for air, but it did make him grunt in pain. That short moment of triumph ends rather abruptly when he decides to act like a dirty stinking cheater and headbutts me. Unprepared for the attack, I get knocked down on the floor, dazed. Shit, this looks bad. He's pretty tough and can actually cream me if I don't turn my quick-thinking on soon. Think, Ikeyama!

Almost subconsciously rolling out of harm's way various back-up plans get created in my head. Think of it as if it was... a boxing match? No. An alien? No. A sexual offender? Now that's more like it.

Springing back to my feet with an extra surge of energy awakening inside me I throw him a challenging glare. Amazing how powerful a placebo effect can be. His face briefly takes on an irritated scowl as he raises fists once again and moves not from his position. Huh. So this time he wants me to come over there. Well, I'll gladly follow suit! I rush at him, keeping my guard tight. He attempts a leg sweep yet again. Not this time, sucker: in response to that I jump in the air, giving my rush a bit more momentum, avoiding the attack and responding with my own, a refined slamming of both clenched fists against his stupid mug like some sort of fierce monkey. Works wonders, he actually reels back from the impact. A small trickle of blood runs down his face from his lower lip. Must have cut it.

Now we're talking. This also seems to impact him psychically. If he was raging silently and in focus until now, this is long gone. I can see him almost steaming with fury as he grits his teeth. There's also some change in his eyes: previously they were bored through all of our interactions despite his changes in voice and body language. Now, however, they took on a strange glint. I've seen that glint a few times when boxing. People who are confident of their fighting abilities and are suddenly proven otherwise often sport it, especially if their lesson was humiliating.

This is a glint of someone with clear murderous intent.

The supposed girlfriend of big lug also notices this as she pales a bit. She seems to be considering whether to jump in his way to try and stop this fight. Don't want to accidentally hit her. The big man himself rushes at me like a speeding truck, about as deadly and hardly maneuverable as one. I move out of the way, just in time to avoid an incoming clothesline, ducking under his extended arm. He stops to a halt and turns around in a frighteningly quick move, ready for another go. Just as he's about to rush again, the girl stops hesitating and jumps in front of him.

"Alright, stop it you two!" She exclaims sternly, her voice wavering just a little bit. Considering she's just put herself between two bloodthristy predators, I can't say I'm surprised. "Can't believe you actually fought over something as silly as this!" The glint in my opponent's eyes slowly vanishes as he straightens himself, scowling. I straighten myself as well, glaring at him still. A tough cookie, that one. If not for the fact he was likely holding back to not accidentally hit someone here he would be a bitch to fight against.

"This isn't about whether it's silly." He responds to the girl, taking his jacket and throwing it back on his back. "It's a principle of thing." He's back to his bored irritation, though he seems bit more relaxed now. Is it a respect coming from him? Maybe.

"Couldn't agree more." I nod, letting my battle instincts die out for now. "Didn't mean to scrap you that bad."

"Bad? I've barely felt that." He lets out something that you could possibly call a chuckle. It's more like some sort of snort-roar really. "You're good though. Been a while since I've had a good fight like that."

"Likewise, guy." I grin before approaching him. He tenses a little bit, but this time I mean no harm. He's my kind of bro alright. "Ikeyama Tsuyoshi. Nice to meet ya, big lug."

"Sensui Kazuya. Likewise, dwarf." Normally I would be up in his face, but I'm certain he ain't meaning it with offense in mind. We exchange handshakes. As expected, his grip is firm and strong. Ain't going to fall behind though so I return the favor. It's a pretty damn primitive way of domination, but hell if it isn't satisfying.

The girl sighs with relief although she still seems pretty peeved at both me and Sensui for starting that fight. Like he said though, it's a principle of thing. Some people can consider this barbaric, I consider this a sensible way of solving conflicts. Doing what's right.

"Glad to know you've put your animosities behind you. Kind of." She says before grabbing Sensui by the arm. "Now come on already, Kazuya, I'm gonna miss my lunch because of you!" The big man just kind of grunts something unspecified in response, giving me a small goodbye nod and letting himself be dragged away by the girl. People that were watching the fight seem a little disappointed by lack of definite outcome, but to hell with them. This might not be the best way to find friendships, but eh. You know what they say: defeat means friendship. Here it was more of a tie, but what the hell.

* * *

Well, time to go and eat something myself. Cafeteria wasn't long walk away from the place where I've stopped to smack and be smacked.

Dunno what I've expected after it. Pretty bog-standard garden-variety cafeteria. People are already gathering in groups too. I've noticed the trio of gossip girls from my class engaging in conversation with some green-haired gal, stopping periodically to giggle at something. Well, the trio is giggling anyway, the green-hair seems kinda bemused by this outcome. Casually looking around I also find Katsura-san sitting by herself and eating what seems to be a boxed lunch in complete silence. Kinda weird that nobody here even approached her to ask if they can sit to chat up or something. Weird. Is my theory about her being a Yakuza princess really possible? Because it's starting to look that way alright.

Other than that there are no people that particularly stand out. Guys and gals, chatting, eating, laughing. Just your average day in cafeteria. Noisy and crowded.

Guess I'll go and approach Katsura-san. Doing just that, I notice yet another girl that sits on her own. She's... tiny. As in, pretty damn miniscule, looking more like a junior high student. Red bow keeps her greenish hair together as she eats, looking around every now and then. She seems... hounded. As in, she looks like someone's about to go and torment her for no particular reason. I guess some jackass could pick on her for her small height, she really looks like a kid more than anything else.

"Ikeyama-san?" My classmate's voice snaps me out of thought. I turn around, blinking, to see Katsura-san looking at me. She seems kinda curious as she continues to stare at me as if I was some sort of mystic being. It's similar to that situations with those two shits a few days earlier though there's no fear involved now.

"Oh? Oh, sorry. Guess I kinda trailed off with thoughts and ended up here." I respond a little hesitantly, chuckling awkwardly. "Now that I'm here though, do you mind if I sit here?"

"Please, go ahead." She nods affrimatively. Well then, she's in a better mood than earlier today, that's a good thing. I take my seat and just as I'm ready to get started with my ramen... this happens.

A couple of girls approaches the tiny girl sitting by herself. Can't hear what they're saying, but from what I can see the red bow doesn't seem too happy with their arrival. The leader of these bullies also has the most smug face that I've seen in a long damn time. Another one shoves her off her seat. Red bow's clearly-is she crying?

Oh, that fucking does it. I raise up from my seat, followed by surprised glance of Katsura-san.

"Is something wrong, Ikeyama-san?" She asks me.

"There is, in fact. I'll be back." I begin to close in the direction of this whole event, progressively more furious at this cruel lack of empathy this whole damn cafeteria has. No one has even batted an eye on this. None stood up, not even a single disapproving glare. Fuck that, I say! You think this is some sort of fucking normal behavior, how kids should act?! Well, I don't fucking think so!

Before I'm able to approach them close enough to throw a couple of threats and insults at the bullies however someone already does it for me. Another guy, just slightly taller than me. Looks like your average teen, with black short hair and dark eyes. Through his face I can see determination as he begins to tell the bullies off. I still can't hear the damn thing, but whatever he's telling them seems to be working. The leader of bullies just kind of scoffs and legs it alongside her flunkies. Heh. Good to know there are still fine folks out there.

Still, there's one crying girl. They might be back for more. After a moment of hesitation I decide to approach them either way.

"Oi, you guys okay?" I ask. The red bow seems to have calmed down a little as she looks at me, giving a small nod.

"Yeah. Scared them off, those four." The guy responds, also nodding. "Thanks for concern."

"To be honest, I was midway of springing into action, but you stepped in first. Maybe it's a good thing."

"Threatened them with school suspension. This should work for now." Well yeah, you don't look like the kind of guy that throws around threats of beating people up. You look way too scrawny. And kinda derpy, to be honest. "If they come back, I'll have some other thing in store." A stark contrast to Sensui, this guy. Looks like your stereotypical nice dude. We lack them these days, so it's good to know they're still around.

"And you?" I switch my attention to the red bow.

"...I-I'm okay." She quietly responds, wiping off tears with her sleeve. God, she's even tinier from up close. Like some kind of living doll.

"Glad to know." I nod, staring back at the guy. "If they give you trouble again, to either of you, I'm available to smack them around. Name's Ikeyama Tsuyoshi." The black-haired dude seems a little surprised when I mention smacking women around. Guess I shouldn't be surprised either.

"Itou Makoto. Nice to meet you." He says with a rather unsure voice, glancing at the tiny girl every now and then.

"...Kiyoura. Kiyoura Setsuna." She speaks out quietly, still kinda nervous after the whole ordeal.

"Cool. Like I said, if any of you have problems with these four, I'm your guy to help."

"We'll keep that in mind."

* * *

The rest of the day was pretty boring. After a lunch with Katsura-san we went back to class where I've been officially killed three times by a history teacher droning something about sengoku. I know all of this already, god dammit. My ponytailed neighbor seems a bit more attentive than earlier, but that was just a little bit. The three gossips were paying hardly any attention, instead focusing their stares at me and occasionally switching to Katsura-san. Guess people have heard about my scrap with Sensui. It's only logical it would become some hot topic.

Finally done with all these annoying lectures and free to go I made a straight beeline towards train station. God, fucking finally, day one is officially over. Gonna have to look around in school's repertoire of sports clubs some later time though.

Catching the first possible train I can't help but wonder. I've already met some people and they don't seem half-bad. Well yeah, I didn't talk to any of them for a longer while, but they seem alright. Not to mention I was able to witness that there are other bully hunters in this school which is twice as good. That Itou guy looks like a pretty okay dude if maybe a bit spineless. Then again, standing up to anyone requires some drive and he definitely had it.

So far, Sakakino Gakuen scores a big plus on my scoreboard.

* * *

**Alright, guess it's done. What do you think? :)**


	3. Railroads And Gravitation

**Guess that I won't waste any more time and proceed with yet another chapter.**

* * *

The loud and obnoxious alarm clock wakes me up from my peaceful slumber, instigating lots of swearing. God, I miss my break already.

Slowly and clumsily gathering all of my stuff I find myself wondering briefly about yesterday's events. Katsura-san in my class. Sensui. Itou and Kiyoura. All of them were already some sort of acquaintances, right? Sure, the last three were kinda briefly encountered, but they still count.

Browsing through my clothes and vowing yet again to finally clean up the whole damn place so it'll be shinier than a bald guy's head I finally composing something of an outfit I come to a striking realization that tomorrow's Saturday already. Kinda liking the fact that I'm gonna have two extra free days after all of this preview at school before the real deal starts.

I kinda wonder if Katsura-san would like to hang out. Approaching her is a challenge, but back at the cafeteria during our little chatter about everything she seemed somewhat more relaxed. Then again, I guess the fact that there was a desk between us kinda offered some sort of safety bar. We don't know each other too well either, but dammit, so far my weekend seems to be some sort of boring do-nothing couple of days. I hate hate hate doing nothing. Makes me feel... well, like nothing. I mean, I guess I could just poke around and see if I can find any hot spots that attract interesting people, but relying on someone who actually knows their surroundings – like Katsura-san, I assume – seems like a better option.

Still, it's gonna be the next day, so now I need to get myself ready for yet another day of boring lectures about boring stuff. Gonna see if they have any worthwhile clubs to sign into too.

* * *

Sakakino's got a strangely big amount of railroads. For a town that's below one hundred thousands of people, that is. This is one of the greatest things actually, since I can be on the other end of the town in fifteen minutes or so. On the contrary however, it lacks other forms of public transport. It's not that big of an issue, but I could kill for a bus to some more remote places.

Our house's about ten minutes on foot away from Ritsuhana, our train station. If one were to take a ride outside the city there would be only one more station, Yamaonnago, to leave its borders. As I was looking up Sakakino's network of railroads I've noticed that Harahirama is on the other side of the town. Too bad.

Well anyway, I'm en route to school right now. As expected, it's packed with people of most various kinds: salarymen hurrying to work, students of various ages, old and young, all of them in a nice rectangular package of a train's car. After observing stuff outside the window for a moment I turn around to check if I might see some familiar faces around. Doesn't seem to be the case: all of students here look like strangers to me. No, wait. I think I can recognize one of the girls sitting. That strand of hair sticking out of the top of her head like a sore thumb is way too recognizable. I swear it engraved in my mind or something. She's currently busy doing a whole lot of nothing, looking through the window and appearing bored.

I guess I don't have anything else to do, so might as well go and chat her up.

"Hey there." I start, giving a small wave. She turns to face me, looking mildly surprised, but that expires quickly when she shows a small smile.

"Oh, you're that guy from yesterday." She responds, gesturing for me to come and sit down. I eagerly follow suit, seeing as this place was apparently still unoccupied by anyone. "Ikeyama, was it?"

"You've got that right." Nodding, I look her up briefly. Nothing too unusual about her apart from that strand of hair. Well yeah, she does seem pretty energetic. This is the face that hardly frowns. "Sorry for that, by the way."

"It's okay, it's not like anyone was hurt. Too badly, that is." The girl lets out a small giggle. "I'm Sekai. Saionji Sekai." First name already? Huh, she must be the approachable kind of girl. Makes me wonder why she seemed so, I dunno, less energetic back then with Sensui. Gonna have to chat him up about this.

"Ikeyama Tsuyoshi, but you know that already."

"Sure I do. I'm pretty sure lots of people at school know your and Kazuya's names already." She's got a point. I can only hope that teachers here at least a bit more lenient about such scraps or I'm gonna get into trouble so far as on day two. Which is not preferred, obviously.

"Hey, that's one way of getting to know people, right?" I let out a small chuckle. Saionji chuckles alongside me.

"Sorry, can't say I'm into it. So, what class are you in?"

"One Four. You?"

"One Three. Something tells me these three years are gonna be awesome." She seems enthusiastic about this. "Kazuya's in there too in case you were looking for him." Oh hey, that's a useful info to have.

"Thanks." The train slowly halts to a stop as a mechanical speaker says "Osharin". Some people leave, but neither of them is a Sakakino Gakuen student. Some new students do come inside though, namely my ponytailed neighbor from class. A pleasant surprise to see her here. Saionji seems to perk up a bit more at her sight.

"Oi, Otome!" She calls out. That's her name, huh. Duly noted. My classmate turns to see us and gives a small wave before approaching us.

"Hey." The ponytail greets us. Didn't notice it before, but she's got brown eyes, just to fit her hair color. I don't think there's a lot of people like that who's got curtains matching the windows. "Meeting new people, Sekai?"

"Yup."

"You're my neighbor in class, aren't you?" Otome faces me, mildly curious. "Don't think we talked before. Name's Katou Otome." She almost shoots out that hand for a handshake. Huh. Dunno what to make of it.

"Ikeyama Tsuyoshi. Nice meeting ya." I respond in kind, shaking her hand. A brief portion of my mind wants to squeeze her hand just like Sensui's, but I keep it contained. God, I'm not some dumb brick that needs to show his physical domination to everyone. "You two knew each other before high school then, I take?" I glance at Saionji.

"A-yup. Been actually knowing each other since kindergarten." She says cheerfully. "Otome here's always been the tomboy." Guess that explains the handshake. "The prodigy at sports, right, Otomin?" Katou flinches a little at the sound of the nickname. "How did that article in "Sakakino Weekly" called you? "The Rising Star of Basketball" or am I mistaken?"

"Sheesh, there's really no need to bring this up." The ponytail rolls her eyes, mildly irritated. "I didn't even do that much during that match."

"Basketball?" I butt in, glancing at Katou. "No offense, but you don't look like the type."

"That's what they all say." A brief sense of satisfaction crosses her face. "I'm not that tall, yeah, but I've got my ways of keeping up." I decide to sit this one in silence, considering she's taller than me anyway. "So how's Sakakino so far, Ikeyama?"

"Pretty decent, I guess." I shrug. Yeah, there are some fine folks in there. On the other hand, bullies that picked up on Kiyoura come to mind... "Don't know too many people or too much about the school though, so I can't say."

"Thinking of joining some sports club?" You bet I do. Question is, what kind of sports clubs do they have in store here?

"I guess. You know anything about them?" Katou nods affirmatively.

"Well, there's our basketball club, but it's girls only since we don't have a guys section." I'm pretty okay with this. I don't mind b-ball, but it's getting annoying every now and then when you're the shortest guy on the field. "I think someone tried to set up a football club, but that's likely not gonna work. No offense, Ikeyama, but most guys here are rather wimpy when it comes down to sports."

"Are they now?" I raise an eyebrow. Don't tell me we have so many Itous around. I don't mind the abundance of bully hunters, but if they all look like your average jellyfish it's starting to become troubling.

"Yeah. You could count them on two hands really." That sucks. If it's really so bad as Katou says I might consider trying to get into basketball team as an extra member. Who knows, maybe I can fit right in? It's not like gender-mixed teams are something new.

"Oh, that's our stop, guys." Saionji pipes in. Yeah, seems like a sea of uniforms just formed near the door. Guess we'd better get going.

* * *

Spending some more time on idle chatter with both Otome and Sekai we finally approach the main gates. Time for yet another boring day of lectures. It'll be worth the wait though since weekend's just ahead of us. After the final bell rings today it's gonna be two and a half days of relax before the full school week starts.

Saying bye to Saionji on our way to the classroom, me and Katou head for our class, chatting some more. My ponytailed classmate seems like an okay kind of gal judging by what I saw so far. Glad to know I've got such a person in class that I can simply chat with about most minor stuff. No offense to Katsura-san, but her social skills aren't quite to par. Speaking of the devil herself, she doesn't seem to be in the classroom yet.

"So, Ikeyama, got any plans for weekend?" Otome asks, sitting on her place.

"Can't say I have. Why do you ask?"

"Sekai called me yesterday evening, said she wants to hang out with a couple of her guys from class and me. Guess she won't mind an extra person." An opportunity to hang out, have a good time _and_ meet a couple of new folks? That sounds pretty damn amazing.

My thoughts however don't seem as content, briefly tracing back to Katsura-san. I was thinking that maybe I could ask her to hang out earlier, wasn't I? Then again, she's not the most sociable person around. One guy already seems a bit much to her, but a whole group? She would degrade into sweating mess of social awkwardness. I guess I can ask her about this once she gets here...

"Oi, Earth to Ikeyama." Katou nudges my shoulder lightly, snapping my attention back to her. "Don't space out on me like that."

"Sorry, sorry. If I can, I'd love to." I respond with a small, embarrassed smile. "Do you mind if I take someone with me though?"

"You'd have to ask Sekai about it, but I don't think she would." The ponytail jiggles as Otome shakes her head a bit. "Got someone particular in mind, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Yeah, that girl who sits above us. Katsura-san." Speak of the devil, the long-haired beauty finally appears as one of the last students in classroom, panting heavily. She must have been running. Wonder what almost got her late for class. "The one by the entrance." Katou turns her head to glance at her. It catches my attention that she seems rather surprised by what she sees. Jealousy over whatever girls are jealous about? I hope not.

"Like I said, you'd have to ask Sekai." My neighbor finally cuts this discussion in two, her tone just a little bit harsher than before. I really hope this won't turn into some feud. I guess Katsura-san could be envied a lot of things, namely that figure of hers.

Giving a small nod – reciprocated too – to her as she passes we don't get too much time to discuss anything as the bell rings. Our homeroom teacher steps inside yet again, this time dressed in some sort of outrageous purple dress. It hurts as fuck to look at her as she begins droning almost immediately.

* * *

Somebody kill me now.

I don't understand a word that she's saying. All I caught is something about Newton Isaac, whoever the hell that is. Otome shares my lack of sentiment, just kind of lying her head on the desk and staring at some unspecified point on the blackboard. Katsura-san, on the other hand, writes sharply and quickly, just like she did yesterday. I briefly let my glance move around and stop on the trio, no, just one of the gossip girls, the one with the headband. Wonder where the other two are.

"At fifth of July of year 1687 Newton has released one of his most known tractates where he described his law of universal gravitation in full detail known as Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica in Latin..." What? That sounded like she's just put a cat in the wringer. I glance at Katou but she's just as clueless as me, apparently trying to repeat that insane title soundlessly. So far she doesn't seem to be seeing much success. "Know, what does the law of universal gravitation say, Kumi-san?" Oh boy, already asking questions. I look around to catch a glimpse of the unlucky bastard. Turns out it's the headbands girl. She has no clue if her looking as if she was trying to get some air is any indication. The teacher sighs with annoyance. "Please pay attention next time. Well then..." Shit, she's looking for a new victim. Try to look as inconspiciuous as possible, Ikeyama. You can do it. "Ryan-kun?" This time it's that generic guy from yesterday that caught my attention. He's clueless either, although he tries to buy himself some time unlike Kumi.

"The law of universal gravitation says that, uh..." Lots of theatric thinking. "That, uh, two bodies... I think, they kinda... uh..."

"That will be enough." Another annoyed sigh. To his credit, he tried. Seen that strategy in lots of teleshows. Is surprisingly effective. "Otome-san?" Phew, just barely dodged the bullet. Can't say Katou's lucky here as she just barely contains a curse as she starts thinking. It's pretty obvious that she's in the same hopeless position as the other two though.

"Two bodies attract each other and, hm, those can be any two bodies..." You can do it, girl. "And... that's all I know." She gives up with a sigh.

"Well, you at least told us something. It's better than nothing." Otome seems relieved that she managed to dodge the ire of our gaudy teacher, letting a small sigh. "Alright then, does anyone here know the full definition? Please go ahead, Kotonoha-san." Kinda knew she will volunteer to provide the answer.

"Newton's law of universal gravitation states that any two bodies in the universe attract each other with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them." The long-haired beauty recites it without fall. A few surprised stares seem to observe her. I dunno how it works in high schools, but junior highschoolers usually don't tolerate people who show off with their knowledge. I'm sure she's just unaware of it though and will quickly adapt. Hopefully.

"...egghead." My ears catch Otome's irritated grumble as she returns to her staring at that one spot.

"Spot-on, Kotonoha-san." Previously annoyed, our gaudy teacher lightens up a bit. "Please sit down, thank you." Katsura-san does as ordered before going back to her notes, not paying this brief moment of attention more than a notice.

* * *

Lunch break, fucking finally.

Seems like Katou will use it to yet again sleep some more. Makes me wonder why's that. She doesn't seem like a type to sit until late night and search through the web. Guess I'll ask her later. For now I've got two objectives in mind: finding class One Three and asking Katsura-san if she wants to hang out with Saionji and others.

When nudged, Otome gave me some pointers – although she was rather grumpy when doing so – to direct me there. Seems there was some commotion going on. Sensui was sticking out of that crowd of uniforms like a sore thumb, currently with his arms folded. I've approached the whole scene to see some girl knocked out on the floor with a big red bruise on her forehead. Tending to her where Itou, some panicky tall guy with messy hair and Saionji. Near them there was a baseball, likely the cause of this incident.

The way I see it, the tall guy threw the baseball to someone and it hit the girl instead and knocked the living shit out of her. Hope it's nothing long-lasting. Also just noticed that she's got some completely ridiculous hairdo. It resembles normal pigtails, just turned into giant rings instead. How are they even kept together is anyone's guess.

She finally wakes up after some nervous anticipation and the first thing she does is to jump right back on her feet and punch the tall sap right in the face, screaming expletives at him. He manages to dodge by jumping back, but this causes him to trip on that unlucky baseball, do a sommersault in the air and land face-first on the floor, accompanied by general laughter. He's fine, thankfully, or we'd be having another nervous moment here. Itou's the only one that looks at least mildly concerned about his classmate's well-being. A moment later, some tall – as in, freakishly tall – girl volunteers to take the rings girl to the infirmary. The crowd starts to gradually thin, Sensui included.

"Yo, you two." I address both Saionji and Itou. The single strand of hair jumps in place as she turns to face me.

"Oh, hey Tsuyoshi." Dunno when we started going on first name basis, but eh. She is the kind of girl to just skip formalities as soon as possible. Itou just nods slightly.

"Nobody got injured here in this incident?"

"Unless you count Sawanaga's remains of pride, not a single thing." He responds, glancing at the tall guy still sprawled on the floor. "From what I saw Kuroda-san isn't hurt too bad."

"Glad to know." I nod before turning my attention to Sekai. "Otome pointed me to you. Said you're gathering people to hang out with at the weekend." The girl perks up some more. I didn't even think it was possible.

"Sure I do." She confirms with gusto. "From what I see we'll be going in quite a big group too. Planning on grabbing someone with you?" Huh. She's insightful.

"Yeah. I'll have to ask her if she has the time though. Not sure if she's the type to appreciate big groups. How many people will be then?" Saionji thinks for a bit before starting to count on fingers.

"Let me think... myself, Kazuya, Otome, Makoto, Setsuna, Hikari, Nanami, Sawanaga, you and your friend... that makes it ten." Hoo boy. Dunno if Katsura-san will appreciate such crowds.

"Alright. I'll go and ask her then. Where do you plan to head out?" Sekai's smile briefly vanishes as she furrows a brow.

"You don't have any plan on hand, do you, Sekai?" Itou asks with a tone that makes me think he expected it from the beginning.

"Sh-shut up, you dummy, I'm thinking!" Saionji responds, all flustered. Geez, no need to be so emotional about it. Eventually, a thought crosses her mind as she lightens up. "I know! There's that place with arcade games near Radish. We can go and get a snack there once we're done with these." Huh. I guess that sounds like a plan.

"You'll have to fill me in about where are all these places." I mention.

"No problem, gimme your phone and I'll write in my number!" Fishing for cellphone in my pocket and finding there a few coins, a paper of some sort and a LEGO figurine – why do I even have these there? - I finally manage to find it. It's a bit rusty and has lost its cover, but it's working still. "Oh boy. Did your phone get flushed in the toilet or something?" Not the one to mince words, eh, Saionji?

"Damaged in a scrap from junior high school." I shrug indifferently, handing her my phone. "Is working, so I ain't complaining." Sekai doesn't waste time and quickly writes in her number and a number of someone else. And then someone else.

"Alright, here you go. Put in there numbers to Makoto and Otomin too." The look on Itou's face says it all. Well anyway, these will surely come in handy.

"Thanks. I'll chat you up later then. Say hi to Kiyoura-san for me." Turning on my heel and waving goodbye I head out to cafeteria, where Katsura-san's likely to be.

* * *

**Okay. What do you think so far, you guys? Don't hesitate to write a review. :)**


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